With awe and compassion, the Committee for the
Organization of ex-citizens of
Podwolcyska presents the Podwolcyska Book to the ex-inhabitants of the town and
the surrounding area.
This book is a collection of testimonies 
most submitted in writing,
some verbally  by the survivors of the town who saw it in its hour of
greatness, and in its darkest moment. What they have remembered has, with much
grief and sorrow, been recorded on these pages.
The different testimonies - there are those who
want to give an objective
account of the town and its history, who have tried, but failed to free
themselves of their love and sorrow for the fate of this town  and there
are those who are subjective from the start.
Together, these testimonies are the faithful
expression of their awe at its
splendor, and grief over its loss.
To the reader  visions of the town and its
surroundings, images of the
people living there and the turmoil they went through, and the events taking
place in this thriving community until its destruction  all these will be
unfolded. And in listening closely, the reader may discern voices rising from
these pages, and the silence following the destruction.

The idea of publishing this book was raised as
far back as the Sixties, but
was delayed, for various reasons, for a long period of time. During the term of
the present committee, which saw before it the choice of now or never, it was
decided to publish the book.
The arduous task of collecting and editing the
material, taking it to press
etc., was begun  a long and complex process. And now, it is done, and the
book is lain before you.
Many people have submitted material, expressed
from the heart. There are those
whose contribution is comprehensive, and others whose are less so. However,
each is of great importance. The reader will no doubt observe that it is not
the "inclination to write" that has motivated them to put their
testimonies on these pages. Rather, it is their desire to consecrate a monument
to their dear ones who are no more, to the whole community of Podwolocyska,
which they loved so much.

We remember
our fathers and mothers, our brothers and sisters and all our relatives who
were destroyed by the hands of the wicked, for no transgression on their part.

We remember
the souls of the brave, who gave their lives as martyrs and for the honor of
man, and who died praying "Shema Yisrael".

We remember
with a sense of bereavement and orphanhood  the holy and precious
community of Podwolocyska and its surroundings. Their memory will never depart
from our hearts. May their souls rest in peace.

Although we have taken great care, errors may have occurred. We may have left
out a name, not been accurate in a detail here and there, unwittingly hurt
someone. We ask forgiveness of them,
The Committee for the Organization of ex-Citizens of Podwolocyska wishes to
thank all those who contributed to the fulfillment of the desire to publish
this book. We also wish to thank our compatriots abroad  the Organization
of ex-Citizens of Podwolocyska in America  who helped us to establish a
monument at Nachalat Yitzhak, and who contributed to the publication of this
book.

May this book be a source of support for the community of Podwolocyska.

by Natanel (Sonyu) Farber

As Europe entered the second half of the
nineteenth century, at a time when
innovation followed innovation, and industry developed at a rapid pace, there
were already railroad tracks laid out in central Europe and England, but in
Austria, the tracks went only as far as Lvov, the capital of Galicia. In
Czarist Russia, there were huge surpluses of agricultural products such as
wheat, sheep, cattle and eggs. These products were meant to be exported and
exchanged for various industrial products. The merchandise had previously been
transported by horse and carriage and the livestock traveled on foot. At that
time the responsibility for laying down railroad tracks from Lvov to the Zbroch
River was bestowed upon the Grand Duke Karel Ludwig by the Austrian government.
In accordance with an agreement with Russia, the Austrian government was to
lay railroad tracks through its territory up to the Zbroch River, including a
bridge over the river, which would connect with the tracks on the Russian side.
The Russians had an easier job than the Austrians
because at the last leg of
the tracks, the portion reaching the Zbroch River, the Austrians faced a
mountain and in order to reach the bridge over the Zbroch, they had to dig a
tunnel one kilometer long and forty meters high next to the river. Considering
the technical means available at the time, this was an extremely considerable
task.
The Austrians recruited workers from among the
peasants in the nearby
villages. The workers were required to carry their tools and walk a distance of
2-3 kilometers in order to get to work each day.
However, by the time they reached their
destination, they were too weak and
tired to do the difficult labor required of them. So sheds containing beds
blankets and other basic amenities were built at the work site for their use.
And thus, the first citizens of Podwolocyska had
arrived: Avigdor Weigler,
Hirsh Redder, Yaacov Shenkel, Levi Ferver, Shaul Tzvilling, Kasten (his first
name escapes me), Feintuch (who was nicknamed Hirsh from Stromiczinza) and
more. They built themselves small makeshift houses and worked as merchants.
Business boomed and small houses sprung up like mushrooms after the rain...
After the train tracks had been laid, work was
begun on the bridge over the
river. At the same time two other smaller bridges were built on the road from
Stromiczinza to Zadnishovka and from there to Tarnopol. And finally
construction was begun on a train station and warehouses. Construction workers
and technicians were employed for these jobs. At that time Avigdor Weigler
built the Podwolocyska guest house and warehouses for storing building supplies
and materials.
These various projects lasted for a number of
years. By the time of the
official festive opening of the tracks, an already thriving town had been
established and named Podwolocyska. By then it was clear to all, that the town
had been born of necessity. First of all it was necessary for the merchandise
arriving in cars from the wider tracks on the Russian side to be reloaded to
the cars outfitted for the narrower European tracks and vice versa. For this, a
regular supply of laborers was needed. Second, appropriate railroad cars were
not always readily available when merchandise arrived, so warehouses were
needed in order to store the goods. Third, arriving livestock needed to be
contained until it was properly checked by veterinarians, so facilities for
maintaining livestock were built around the Zbroch. The place was called
"Contra-tax", a name which remained even after the facility was
eliminated. All of these facilities primarily employed people who wanted to
live near their place of work, and that is how the town sprang up.
The companies which exported merchandise to
Russia, as well as the companies
which imported merchandise from there, all established offices and warehouses
in the towns. These companies were responsible for the merchandise until it
reached the border, where the recipient examined it and transported it further.
At this time the "Odessa Hotel" was constructed.
Exporting eggs was another matter. One of the
founders of this branch was
Theodor Rimalt, the brother of the Rabbi from Osiatin. Since this product
requires special conditions (special packaging and wrapping) along with
immediate supply, egg warehouses were built in the town where eggs were
examined, sorted and packed. There was much surplus produced, since many eggs
were deemed unsuitable for export. And since eggs rot quickly, the Album
factory was established, where the whites were dried at very high temperatures
and then exported, and the yolks were stored in barrels. Exporting eggs
through our town became of considerable importance in egg trading in Europe.
An egg "commodities exchange" was even built in the town in a
building near the tracks. This was where the world egg prices were determined.
A permanent agent of the Berlin commodities exchange by the name of Kussar,
who owned a home in Podwolocyska, would telegraph the egg prices daily and
these were published in the Berlin publication "Egg Exchange".
Before World War I, there were 32 egg warehouses
in the town. Most of them
were used for export. Many of the warehouses contained pools where the eggs
were stored in water mixed with plaster. The egg factories employed hundreds
of workers including inspectors and packers and others. The eggs arrived from
Russia in horse-drawn carriages driven in convoys that lasted for many
kilometers.
The grain was transported by train and unloaded
into warehouses. For this
reason the "Aputika Bank" was established. This consisted of a row of
warehouses which extended over a number of kilometers and which were called the
"Aputika Warehouses" until the first World War. The manager of this
warehouse, which employed many workers, was Erdheim, a citizen of Podwolocyska.
The Erdheim family played an important role in the development of the town.
Erdheim constructed an impressive two story building, and after his death the
street was named for him. At the end of the season- right after the harvest,
the shipments of grain would come in one after another. I remember that as a
small boy in "Heder" I learned to count by counting the Russian
railroad cars. One train had seventy or eighty cars and the Russian engine made
a great noise as it rolled into town due to the fact that it was moving
downhill. During the season, there was not enough room for all the grain in
the warehouses, so they would throw large amounts of grain in the open fields
and appoint watchmen to guard it. I remember how, as a child, I would love to
stand and look at the mountains of grain, which resembled pyramids. How much
grain and other surplus agricultural products did Czarist Russia export through
one border crossing! And the Soviets were forced to import wheat from the
capitalist countries...
In time, a product known as "Klei" or
straw kernels, which was
important in European trading, was also traded in Podwolocyska. The leading
merchant in this field was Yaacov Tirhaus. The product was sifted from kernels
in special warehouses by skilled workers, and was then exported all over the
world, especially to Switzerland. Another product which was exported to
Switzerland and was used to make their famous Swiss cheese was dried calf
stomachs. Leizer Altenoy was active in this field.
Our train station had two sides: a Russian side
with the wider Russian tracks,
and an Austrian side, with its regular European tracks. A similar station
stood on the other side of the border at the Friedrich station, which was built
a considerable distance from the town of Volocysk, as was the custom in Russia.
As the traffic increased, a roundhouse and railroad garage was also built.
Railroad storehouses and offices were built in Drovnica as well. All of these
places employed people who wanted to live close to their place of work. The
railroad company constructed a three-story building for them and their families
on its land. We referred to it as the "Family House". Since the
station was a border crossing, a customs house was also constructed.
The border was guarded by "Finances",
customs police, and a special
building was constructed for them as well. The town expanded, schools,
yeshivas and "heders" were built. In addition, various vocational
schools were founded. Beautiful new streets sprung up around us.
The train shortened the journey from the Russian
cities of Odessa, Kiev,
Proskorov, Viniza, Zmarinka, etc., to central Europe. Most importantly, it
moved them closer to the health springs of Carlsbad, Franzbad, and Marianbad.
Hordes of Russians traveled to the European health springs. In those days, it
was easy to distinguish a Russian by his attire. He usually wore a shirt
("Rovshka") hung over his trousers, or he wore big boots. But while
traveling abroad he endeavored to look European, and he was aided in that
effort by the stores of Podwolocyska.
The Russians would reach the town on the morning train, dressed as Russians,
and when they got on the afternoon express train to Vienna, which was outfitted
with a special car in Podwolocyska for Carlsbad, they were dressed in total
European style. The town reached its climax before World War I, when the
population numbered about 10,000, 85% of whom were Jews. The town flourished,
thanks to its steady growth, and its inhabitants enjoyed economic prosperity.
The surrounding towns - Skalat, Gajimlov, Zbroch, Mikolinicz, etc. which
suffered from typical Galician poverty, nicknamed Podwolocyska "Little
Paris". And during its initial phase of development, the residents of
Podwolocyska kept their distance from these small towns.
During the Russo-Japanese war, the first wave of
political refugees reached
Podwolocyska. The Jewish youth did not want to fight for the Czar in the Far
East. They crossed the border, settled in Podwolocyska, brought along their
families and were granted Austrian citizenship. Later on, Jews came from all
over Galicia, from Lvov, Krokow, Miaroslov. They even came from Bokovina, as
did David Wallach, who opened a garden cafe which even had a bowling facility.
His grandson lives in Israel, and he is a member of the committee- Vilo Wallach.
Until World War I, the residents of Podwolocyska
maintained high moral
standards. They conducted their lives quietly, maintaining their faith,
diligence and warm Jewish hearts. The refugees of the Russo-Japanese War, as
well as those of the pogroms after the failed revolution of 1905 were taken in
with open arms. This included those who chose to settle in our town and those
who chose to continue on to the United States.
The Jewish inhabitants of the town could be
divided into three categories: the
first being the intelligentsia and professionals. The second group, and the
largest of the three, were the regular folk, simple people with a strong
national awareness. The third group consisted of Hassidic Jews from Hosiatin
and Chortikov. The majority were very observant. One could feel the atmosphere
of the Sabbath and Jewish festivals in the air, both at home and on the street.
Then the Hassids and other Jews wore traditional Jewish garb such as
Shtreimels (velvet top hats) and overcoats. The more progressive Jews wore top
hats and evening clothes. The youngsters wore white shirts and knickers. Life
was conducted honestly and in a G-d -fearing manner.
The Jewish child began his religious education in
the cradle. Even before his
circumcision, children from the local heder, where he would eventually learn or
where his brothers were already learning, came to sing him prayers ("El
Melekh Ne'eman"). The mother would put cookies and sweets in the child's
cradle and the older children would grab them up. This was a superstition to
ensure the proper development of the child. The mother would sing the child
lullabies from prayers with melodies she might have made up herself. These
became folk songs, whose composers are unknown such as: "Remember His
Mercy and Loyalty to the House of Israel, from all corners of the earth will
His Salvation be seen" or David's Psalm: "He is My Shepherd, I shall
not want." My mother used to put her children to sleep, and there were ten
of us, by singing these melodies. By the age of three the "Belfer"
or teacher's assistant would come to escort the boy to "cheder".
A small number of the intelligentsia and
merchants who were known as "the
Germans" or the Ashkenazis, built themselves a reformed temple. Its
construction was completed before the First World War. It was an illustrious
building. In the spring of 1914 the cornerstone for the "Folkhouse",
a Zionist building, was laid in the garden next to Yitzhak Biller, not far from
the railroad tracks. The ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone was
attended by Ben-Zion Patt, who gave an impressive speech. I stood next to him
and I remember that he began his speech with the words: "A stone fashioned
by the builders became the cornerstone". It was a rousing Zionist
speech.The rabbi, Yehuda Leib Babad, recited an incantation during the laying
of the cornerstone.
The town Rabbi had a nationalistic viewpoint,
unlike the Hassidic rabbi from
Hosiatin. In the parliamentary Austrian elections of 1912, the Rabbi from
Hosiatin instructed his disciples to cast their vote for Count Golochovsky, but
most of the Jews in the town voted for Dr. Leon Reich, and he was indeed
elected. However, there were never any hostile confrontations between fanatic
groups. Everyone respected one another's viewpoints. Meetings were generally
held in synagogues and yeshivas. Each trade union had its own place of
worship. The "Ashkenazis" used to meet at the Odessa Cafe.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, a
Zionist organization by the name
of "Achva" (brotherhood) was founded. This organization had the
honor of hosting Menahem Mendel Ussishkin, whose lecture tour included
Podwolocyska. One of the activists in the organization, the egg trader Meir
Erlich, even composed a lovely melody to the psalm "why the nations of
the world are excited". He also put together a choir comprised of young
men and women in order to perform a concert for the honored guest. Ussishkin
was impressed by the choir. Unfortunately, I cannot relate too much about the
activities of "Achva" because it disbanded while I was still very
young. However, my mother used to sing me the song composed by Meir Erlich and
I remember it until today.
Worthy of mention are the acts of virtue, which
the residents of our town were
in the habit of performing, such as being gracious hosts, being charitable and
studying Torah.

Hosting strangers
- Podwolocyska had the pleasure of being host to a great celebrity- the
popular writer "Shalom Aleichem". When he left Russia, he was the
guest of one of the most important dignitaries of our town. Let us let Shalom
Aleichem himself tell us how he felt as a guest in our town: "I came to
the town whose name begins with the letter "P", and I stayed with a
Jew whose name begins with the letter "P", a very respectable Jew,
very knowledgeable - wherever you catch him." He was referring to old
Partash. "The welcome the town gave me was very gracious." The town
was not satisfied with just this wonderful welcome, it wanted to provide him
with provisions for his journey, so we held a literary evening in his honor,
during which he read from his works. The "egg people" allowed the
use of their exchange building, a large auditorium with a podium, albeit with
no chairs. Therefore, the audience stood, or rather rolled around the floor
laughing when they heard the author read. As it turned out, and as is well
known, Shalom Aleichem gave the greatest renditions of his own works. I was
present during that evening, as a very small boy, and my grandfather Avraham
Yeshayahu held me on his shoulders so that I could see everything. Although I
did not understand too much, the great explosions of laughter during the
reading of "Near the Kaparot Slaughter" are still engraved in my
memory.
When Mendel Bailis left Russia, after being
released from prison, Podwolocyska
was his first stop. Here he was received by a band of musicians and supplied
with provisions for his journey.
Later on I will expand upon the great charitable
deeds which were performed
for our brothers fleeing the Bolshevik pogroms.

And regarding
charitable deeds
- since, there was economic prosperity in our town during the period before
World War I, there were hardly any poor people. The known beggars in the town
were cared for by the townspeople on a regular basis. On Thursday, which was
market day, paupers from Skalat, Zbaraj, and Gjimlov would come around the
doorsteps to ask for money. Sometimes a charity ball would be organized in the
town and afterward it was difficult to distribute all the money which was
collected. Usually it was sent to Skalat in order to supply a dowry for a
bride or just to be given to any poor people. In addition, all kinds of
"rabbis" and "grandchildren" would come to the town to
collect charity. Our great Rabbi Yehuda Leib Babad secretly distributed any
money to those who did not want their economic plight publicized.

Torah Study
-our town was famous for the Torah sages who lived there. The greatest of them
all was Rabbi Yehuda Leib Babad. More will be told of him later. Worthy of
mention is Yaacov Tirhaus and his son-in-law Bentzi Shapira (today a rabbi in
Israel), and Yaacov Shaya Kenler, author of "Questions and Answers"
and his son Melech Melamed, and Crooked Noah, who pretended to be a Rabbi, and
who even had disciples, and Hanoch Melamed, Shalom Eli, and Ovadiah Ginsburg.
The "heders", full of young children, were run by the teachers: Yonah
the Educator, Green Shmuel, Shmuel the Turk, Anshel the Teacher, Haim Ternodau,
Moshe Krebbs and Pinhas Pollak. The children studied in the "heders"
from morning until evening with a short lunch break. Children who excelled in
their studies were brought before the Rabbi to recite what they had learned,
and it was considered a great honor to be pinched on the cheek by the great
Rabbi.
On Simhat Torah, all of us children were called
to the Torah. I remember that
Pinhas Birbach's wife would sit near the window of the "Talmud Torah"
synagogue holding two pans, one containing "Fluden" and the other
"Lekach". The window faced the "Talmud Torah" side and
after being called to the Torah each child would receive a piece of
"Fluden" and a piece of "Lekach". This remained the custom
for many years.
After "Shabbat Bereshit" (the Sabbath
after the Simchat Torah
holiday) we received lanterns to light our paths on our way home from
"cheder". We were so happy that we wrote a song:

"Hop Hopa and good night!
By night we go our steps are light
This way yes and this way no
Ki leolam chasdo (For forever lasts His grace)"

Children studied in "heder" all day
until the age of six. At the age
of six there were children who went to public school and studied in the
"heder" during the afternoon. During school vacations, they would
study in the "heder" all day long. This practice was so well rooted
in the town that it was very rare to see a Jewish child wandering aimlessly in
the streets. Very religious families did not send their children to public
school so that they would not have to sit bareheaded and in a classroom where a
cross was displayed. These children learned secular studies from private
teachers in their homes, teachers like, Alter, Koppel and Friedman. Good
students from wealthy families would go to the Tarnopol Gymnasia after
completing four years of study at the public school. For eight years they
would travel back and forth to Tarnopol every day. This was both difficult and
expensive. Since our town was progressive enough to have its own
"Gymnasia" (high school), one was constructed in 1911, between the
railroad warehouses and the Temple. This writer was among its first pupils.
Podwolocyska and Volocyska, which were located on
the two sides of the Zbroch
River were like two ends of a ruler. By obtaining a transit pass, which cost
one Krohn, the residents of Podwlocyska could travel to Volocysk for one month
and eat to their hearts content for very little money. The residents of
Volocysk could do the same for thirty Kopeks- come over to our side and buy
textiles and tropical fruits which were relatively cheap in Galicia.

Cantors and Men of Prayer

Grandfather Cantor (Gelzman) was the town Cantor,
who was paid by the
community. He was a talented cantor and a good Jew. As was the custom of the
time, he wrote melodies for use during the prayers of the High Holidays. He
had a wonderful gentle voice. He would pray at the large synagogue and people
from various yeshivas would come to listen to him. His son, Moshele, also
proved to have considerable cantorial talents. We organized a minyan during
the High Holidays at the "Plain Talk", which was a club next to
Perchip's house, and Moshele prayed there. He was very successful and most of
the town youth prayed there. He emigrated to Argentina where he served as a
cantor in Buenos Aires. He died there at a young age. The successor to his
father "Grandfather Cantor" was the quarryman Brish, who was not
especially talented.
In dozens of small synagogues many talented and
beloved men of prayer passed
before the ark. Most of them led the prayers without being paid for their
services. During the High Holidays and during other holidays Avrahamchi Gross
served as the cantor of the rabbi's minyan. His renditions were effusively
sweet. He also composed melodies for prayers. In the Hosiatin Hassids' house of
worship Pinhas Waldniger regularly led the prayers. He had a strong voice and
was well loved by the Hosiatin Hassids. Shmuel Bomza, a gentle Jew who worked
in the egg business regularly led the prayers at the "Matit David"
synagogue. Shmuel Kosover (Zilberman) led the prayers at the "Talmud
Torah Synagogue". All the town residents came to hear him. His son, Berel
Zilberman inherited his father's talent for leading prayer. He led the prayer
at the "Mizrahi" synagogue, but it just wasn't the same.
Especially talented was my uncle, Mordechai Ferber, who had a clear melodious
voice and a very well-developed musical sense. All of his children followed in
his footsteps and each played a musical instrument. Very often they would play
and my uncle would sing. He also composed melodies for the High Holidays such
as: "Lo and behold, we are clay in the Hands of the Creator" and
"The Lord dwelth in high places" and "And thus one was
numbered". He would pray accompanied by a choir, which he conducted. His
son Chunyu was the best singer in the choir and he would sing portions from the
prayers.
Today he is a doctor in Paris. When World War II broke out, he was studying
medicine in Paris. He was an officer in the French "Resistance" and
was awarded an esteemed military medal. Another grandson from my uncle
Mordechai Ferber's family survived, Leopold Weiser, Aunt Susia's son. He
fought in the ranks of the Red Army and participated in the march from
Leningrad to Berlin where he was severely wounded while helping another Russian
soldier. Today he lives in Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States. Uncle
Mordechai still managed to pray on the first night of Rosh Hashana 1941, while
under German occupation, and on that night he fell into an eternal sleep. The
desperate Jews of the ghetto envied him, for he died a natural death.
Before World War I, the greatest of all cantors,
Grandfather Rodner came to
Podwolocyska. He led the prayer one Sabbath (Shabbos Mevorchim), and it was a
great success. Afterward, he remained for a time in the town, gathering young
men with nice voices and instructing them in the famous "Merciful
Father" prayer. I was one of those young singers. He gave a concert in
the Sokol Auditorioum, which was filled to capacity. He sang various songs and
we sang some as well.

The Zionist Movement in the Town

As I have already mentioned, an organization by
the name of "Ahava"
had been founded in the beginning of the century, and it promoted the Zionist
activity in our town. I do not know much about this. I have already mentioned
the choir, which gave an impressive welcome to Menahem Mendel Ussishkin. I also
know about an amateur play which they put on, which I will expand upon later.
The major club, which I remember from my early
youth until World War II broke
out was the "Plain Talk ". It performed a plethora of Zionist
activities aimed at educating generations of pioneers and Jews with a sense of
national identity. Among the original group of the "Plain Talk" were
Bruno Perchip, Itchel Shenkel, Baruch Haimo, Isaac Moyer (who later changed his
name to Yitzhak Homa and was among the founders of Kfar Vitkin in Israel),
Hanoch Hillman, myself and others.
During school vacations, Bruno Perchip would
gather us young students (he
himself was a junior or senior in high school) near the Zbroch, and would give
lectures on various topics in order to instill in us a sense of national
consciousness. Even then, and I am speaking about the time before World War I,
this future physician put an emphasis on health problems. After World War I,
when he was the town doctor, he remained regularly active in the "Plain
Talk", as the Director of the general Zionists in the local council. He
was responsible for the Zionist activities of the club, be they lectures, which
drew large audiences, or various forms of entertainment. He was also very
active in forming the "Maccabi" athletic club and served regularly as
a referee in the soccer matches.
The activities of the "Plain Talk "
increased after World War I. It
is difficult to mention all the members who were active in the group, however,
I will try to describe each branch of the organization, and as much as
possible, I will mention those who were active in them.
At first, the club used two rooms in the Perchip
home (which old Perchip had
let us use) as its clubhouse. During the High Holidays, we organized a minyan
there (Moishele Gelzman led the prayer). After a while, we decided to move to a
new place near the town for a number of reasons: First of all, the place had
gotten too small for us. Second of all, the Perchip home was far from the
center of town and third of all, Bruno Perchip had finished his medical studies
and we understood, although he never said anything, that he needed the rooms
for a clinic. The new clubhouse had three large rooms. It needed to be
appropriately decorated, and Yisraelik Marder helped us with this. He copied
the pictures of A.L. Lillian very nicely, and his colorful drawings decorated
our clubhouse. Yisraelik Marder moved to Israel as a pioneer in the 1920's.
Later on he worked at the Bezalel Art Academy in Jerusalem. He died there a
number of years ago.
The " Plain Talk" club was active in a
number of areas: Library: -
(the members of the club took turns at running the library), public readings
and lectures, a drama club and a sports club, activities to raise money for the
Jewish National Fund, a Hebrew school, a choir and a chess club.
Usually, we held lectures on Saturday and usually
in Hebrew. An argument
would ensue. The audience, comprised of mostly youths, was eager for an
argument. The primary lecturers were, if memory serves me well, Shimon and
Moshe Whittman. Shimon was the more active of the two. He would prepare a
lecture that got straight to the point. He had a talent for creative
descriptions and for holding an audience's interest. Since he had a phenomenal
memory, he would recite everything by heart, including quotes from authors and
from the scriptures. Both brothers were observant, from a respectable
religious family. At the end of each lecture, the lecturer and topic for the
following week's lecture, was chosen. This was then written on the bulletin
board.
Katinsky used to give very good lectures as well.
He used to give his lectures
wearing a Russian student's uniform. His family had fled Russia and had come
from Volocysk to Podwolocyska. Isio Netter would combine his lecture with
humor. He had a talent for endowing his lectures with merriment so that the
audience would be swept away. Grossman, the teacher from Volocysk, who had
married a woman from Podwolocyska, gave lectures which were packed with
tension. When Dr. Bruno Perchip would give the lecture, the clubhouse could
not hold all the people who came to hear him speak. Erdheim, the engineer,
would also give a lecture every so often. Imo Cohen, who we introduced into our
movement at an young age, was first active at the "Plain Talk ".
Later on he went on to become a central figure in the Revisionist Movement as
the secretary of the central committee. Today he is an attorney in Tel Aviv.
The young students would also participate in the lectures and the public
readings during the summer vacations. For example, Ms. Liebling and Ms.Kosmer.
Erdheim, the engineer, would lecture in Polish (he didn't know Hebrew and he
didn't speak Yiddish well enough, the students would also lecture in Polish).
Dr. Bruno Perchip spoke in Yiddish (Mama Lushon).
I would like to note here that during the years
1922-1924, I was but a guest
in our town due to the fact that I was working in Bilka and in Kalarovka, and I
would only come home occasionally. In 1928, I left the town for good and lived
in Lvov until the outbreak of World War II. There were also public readings, as
I have mentioned earlier. The members would read from classic Jewish texts
including: Mendele, Shalom Aleichem, Y.L. Peretz. Shalom Ash, A.D. Numberg,
Frishman. They would also read from the works of poets in Hebrew. There was a
group of young women who read most impressively. The readings were included as
part of the program at parties. There were also readings in Yiddish from the
poems of Y.L. Peretz, Morris Rosenfeld, Bialik, Zalman Seglovich, etc. I myself
read from the works of Morris Rosenfeld as well as from the anthology
"Munish" by Shalom Aleichem, reading everything by heart.
Our town had but one auditorium, the Sokol
Auditorium, where celebrations,
plays and balls were held. Unfortunately, we did not have our own auditorium.
The "Folk House" for which funds had been collected and the corner
stone laid in 1914, was never completed due to the war.

The "Maccabi" Club

The subject of sports was very developed in our
town. First of all, we had the
beautiful Zbroch River, and everyone could swim in it from earliest childhood.
Anyone who did not know how to swim was felt ashamed. We had talented
swimmers, who taught the youth how to swim. The river was winding, and in some
parts of it "around the bend" the water went as deep as six meters.
We called these parts the "large lake" and the "small
lake". Only the best swimmers swam there. The weaker swimmers went to
swim in the "Women's Gallery", which is what we called it, on the
right bank of the river. "The Ladder" was on the left bank, exactly
opposite the beautiful wooden synagogue in Volocysk. This synagogue was built
back in the days of the Polish monarchy in the "wooden Polish church"
style, which meant with an artistic finish and with paintings inside. It is
interesting that right next to the synagogue there was a wooden Polish church,
built at around the same time as the synagogue, with the name of God written in
Hebrew at the top of the facade. Legend has it that a Jewish convert to
Christianity wrote it as he was standing on a tall ladder. When he got to the
final letter, "heh", the ladder broke and the artist fell and was
killed. That is why one leg of the letter "heh" is a little longer
than the other.
During the winter, we would skate on the ice on
iron horseshoes. When we were
young, we would put on shoes with iron horseshoes attached to them and use them
to skate on the lake. When we got older, we got ice skates. Dr. Kobalov, a
relative of Meir Dizengoff, would go swimming in the winter, even during the
greatest frost. We would see him coming on a horse-drawn sled, wearing a coat
made of lamb's fur. He would come up to a fissure in the ice, which he had
prepared beforehand, and remove his fur coat. Wearing only swim trunks, he
would jump into the water and swim for a while. Watching the doctor swim in
the freezing water was quite an attraction for us.
When we were young, we began to play soccer in
the field between the
"Temple" and the new park. This was a very nice place. The grass
was low and the ground smooth. The field had just one drawback: it was on an
incline. The team which played on the higher side during the first half, would
always win the game. We used this field for a long time, until the owner of
the estate donated 10 dunams (2.5 acres) near the Feitel Forest, where the
Sunday celebrations were held. This was on the Polish path to Skoriki, at the
town limits. Since there was a small mound at the edge of the field, we
decided to straighten it out. For two weeks we all worked diligently - digging
and removing dirt. Our hands were covered with painful blisters, but we did not
stop working until we finished the job. The workers were members of the
"Maccabi" club, which had just been founded by the "Straight
Talk", headed by Dr.Bruno Perchip. If memory serves me, the following
soccer players worked to set up the "stadium": Sello and Lunik
Wallach, Tuvik Gottlieb, Sumchu Liebling, Leibik Marder, Feldman, Gershon
Farber, the Jarchower brothers, Yanchi Fiendling, Emo Cohen, and myself.

Ichile Shenkel

Ichile's contribution to the establishment of the
"Plain Talk" was
tremendous. But I must emphasize that we, from Podwolocyska, must
differentiate between the two Ichile's, just as history differentiates between
Joseph the son of Matityahu, a priest in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and
Josephus Flavius, the Roman historian who wrote "The War of the
Jews". I will tell only of the first Ichile.
I remember the ceremony for the laying of the
cornerstone of the
"People's House" which was to be erected in Iche Bieler's garden,
near the train tracks in the spring of 1914. The Zionist activist from
Tarnopol, Ben-Zion Patt, was invited to the ceremony. I was just a boy, but I
remember that he began his speech with the words: "The builders fashioned
a stone to become a cornerstone." After his speech, Ichile, who was still
quite young, took the floor and delivered a rousing speech. From that day
forward, there was no longer a need to invite speakers from other places for we
had our own speaker. The ceremony ended with a short speech and benediction
from our rabbi. The noble rabbi had to overcome the objections of the Hassids
from Hosiatin and Chartekov to his participation in a ceremony laying the
cornerstone for a Zionist building. Sadly, World War I, put an end to the
blessed undertaking of constructing the "People's House" and no
Jewish auditorium was ever built in our town until its destruction. We were
forced to use the Sokol Auditorium. From the time of that ceremony, Ichile was
crowned the primary speaker for the Zionist movement in our town.
During the years of the Russian occupation
(1914-1918), all political activity
was forbidden and we could not hold our meetings. The schools were closed as
well. But we, the youth, continued to study, greatly aided by Brunik Perchip
and Nussbaum. After the Austrians came in, in the spring of 1918, the Zionist
movement was revived. Old Perchip donated two rooms in his home to the
"Plain Talk". General meetings were held in the great synagogue which
was nearby, and there Ichile delivered his rousing Zionist speeches. Any
meeting which featured him as a speaker, was filled to capacity. Generally
other speakers would speak at the meetings as well, but after Ichile's speech,
which usually lasted for about an hour and received enthusiastic applause, no
one dared ask for the floor.
Ichile was one of the founders of the drama club
at the "Plain
Talk". I remember that he served as the permanent prompter during the
plays. Then came the difficult days of the fall of the Austrian empire in the
autumn of 1918, and the Petrola pogroms began. Ichile was the primary figure
in the "Samo Ovrona", the self-defense group, and stood at its head
until it was disbanded. Without Ichile, it is hard to believe that this group
would have existed. Ichile served as the president of our club for a long
time. Many times he was elected as a delegate to the National Council of the
Zionist movement. He was active with the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National
Fund, and served as the alternate chairman of the Rescue Committee.
All this occurred up until the time that he was
shot by Sidlezki. During a
court hearing, he shot him a number of times and wounded him very seriously. I
don't know the nature of the quarrel between them, just that they were both
partners in a consortium that was being dismantled then.

Park Games

The "Plain Talk" organized
"Pastimes", meaning park games
for the adolescents. They were usually held in the Feitel Forest. The forest
belonged to Bavrovski. Before the war, the landlord Zisserman rented it.
After the war, the forest was managed by the "Housekeeper".
The names Feitel Forest and Mt. Feitel came about
due to the fact that
opposite the mountain there stood the home of the Pole, Feitel, where he lived
with his sons. The farmers form Stromicynizna called the house
"zimchisko", meaning castle, because the castle fortress stood on the
mountain. The mountain itself, the lake at its foot, and the Zbroch River, are
what turned it into a castle fortress. It was told that there was a 20
kilometer tunnel which led from the castle, which was an ancient Polish
fortress, to Zbaraj. During the Polish monarchy, the castle would withstand
attacks by the Tartars and the Cossacks. We held our training sessions on this
mountain and on this mountain the Germans murdered the last of the Jews of our
town.
Dosia Greenhaut, immediately after the
liberation, gathered up some
blood-soaked earth into a earthenware jar, carried it with her through all her
wanderings, until she brought it to Israel. Here we brought this holy earth,
soaked with the blood of innocent victims, to be buried in the Jewish tradition
in a cemetery in Nachlat Yitzhak. We erected a tombstone, one of the first of
its kind. There we meet year after year, on the date on which this mass
slaughter was perpetrated, on the seventh day of Tamuz, and hold a memorial
ceremony for the martyrs of Podwolocyska and its environs.
The Soviets built a brick factory near this
mountain, because the earth is
suitable for the manufacture of bricks. The use of this mountain caused the
mountain to move a bit and the bones of our martyrs were then discovered on the
surface. At that time, only Leibish Kasten who had returned from Russia and
settled in Podwolocyska, Jarchower's son and Joseph Friedman's daughter Tsesia
still lived in the town. That is what remained of a town which once
flourished, and at its greatest climax numbered 10,000 Jewish inhabitants.
Leibish Kasten immediately began to take care of the bones and called upon our
town residents in Tel Aviv and New York. Thanks to our financial contributions
and the cooperation of Kasten and Jarchower, the remains of our martyrs were
placed in coffins and buried in the Nachlat Yitzhak cemetery in Israel. Leibish
sent us photographs of the transfer of the remains from the mass graves.
Featured in them are Kasten and Jarchower, along with Soviet policemen, who
helped do the work.

Heroism

I did not live in my town during the German
occupation. I lived through this
terrible time in Lvov. I know about what happened to Podwolocyska from stories.
I believe that every Jew has an obligation not to
remain silent about any
German atrocity perpetrated against our people so that this testimony serve as
a memory and a warning for future generations! It is especially important to
describe acts of heroism.
I do not think that only hand to hand combat
against German soldiers
constituted acts of heroism. I would like to describe here the heroic death of
our rabbi, Rabbi Yehuda Leibish Babad, may his memory be blessed. It happened
in Zbaraj, where the murderers led many of our people. They stripped the rabbi
and his children, sons and daughters to their underwear, and paraded them
through the town while poking fun and laughing at them. Then they began to
shoot his children, one by one, in front of the holy rabbi. The rabbi begged
the cruel murderers, "Shoot me first so that I will not see my children
die!" They said, "No, Jew, you must see your children die!"
The rabbi told them again, "It goes against our holy Torah and against all
of human nature !" - "You, Jew, will see your children perish!"
The holy rabbi raised his eyes and cursed them as follows: "The sun is too
beautiful for its yellow rays to shine on you! The ground is too precious to
hold animals like you!" He still had the courage and the presence of mind
to call out loudly three times, "Be cursed! Be cursed! Be cursed! Your end
is very near!" I was told this by Nusia Weinstein who was deported to
Zbaraj, as well.
Also the daughter of Leizer Altnei, Gizia Altnei,
called out the following
curse as she was being led to her death by firing squad, "You murderers,
look into my eyes so that my face will haunt you all your lives! I stand
before my death now, so my words are holy. Be cursed! May you know no peace!
May you always see my eyes upon you!'
This is true heroism.

(5633-5703 ; 1873-1943)

Rabbi Yehuda Leibish Babad was born in the Hebrew
year 5633 (1873) in
Strissov. When his father died in the year 5655 (1895), he replaced his father
as the rabbi of Podwolocyska, a position he held for nearly fifty years. He
married Malka, the daughter of Rabbi Reuven David Efrati, head of the
rabbinical court of Czoliov. He was ordained at the age of twenty by the great
Rabbi Shmelkes who gave him his book "Beit Yitzhak" and told him
"I had it published so that Torah scholars such as you might read through
it."
He was one of the greatest rabbis of his
generation, and his brother, who
owned the "Havazelet Hasharon" often made it a requirement for those
making a religious inquiry to turn to Rabbi Yehuda Leibish Babad for
concurrence. His religious interpretations were well-known among the Torah
scholars of Galicia, and he had many disciples. His replies to queries were
lost and only one was preserved in a book by his brother. In "The Vision
of Abraham" there is a reply written by Rabbi Yehuda Leibish Babad from
the year 5684 (1924).
He was very careful not to sleep too much,
especially during the Sabbath. He
was righteous and his prayers resounded with holiness. He loved all beings,
was a friend to all people, and always performed acts of kindness. His face
was always joyous, despite the fact that his wife was known to be ill and that
he, alone, carried the burden of raising ten children. During World War I, he
went to the neighboring town of Skalat, where he helped the refugees from his
town with the greatest of dedication. When he moved to Lvov for a time, he was
head of the Joint's aid effort for the Ukrainian deportees.
Because of his sharp mind, he was often called
upon to interpret complicated
Torah laws and the members of his community were blessed by his presence. He
was not known to be involved in any disputes, although he was stalwart in his
vigilance against allowing foreign influences to infiltrate Judaism. He was
one of the most important rabbis among the Belz Hassids, and performed a number
of tasks for the Rabbi's court on a number of occasions. These included
organizing the rabbinical conference in Lvov in 5688 (1928), the rabbinical
conference organized by the Hafetz Haim in 5691 (1931), and participating in
the rabbinical triumvirate which the authorities appointed for the elections of
all rabbis in Poland for the position of the great Rabbi Shapira. The Hassids
of Alexander tried to convince him to accept the appointment for Chief Rabbi of
the cities of Lodz or Radom. He refused the offer by Yitzhak Greenbaum to
allocate a slot for him on his Zionist party list as an unallied ultra-Orthodox
candidate.
When the Nazis came into his city in 5701 (1941),
they deported a number of
Jewish families to Zbaraj. He and his family were among them. He refused to
hide out in a bunker and limping, he marched to his death in 5703 (1943) along
with thousands of other Jews who were buried in a mass grave. All of his ten
children died in the Holocaust.

From the Encyclopedia of Wise Men of Galicia
Published by the Institute for the Memorial of the Jews of Galicia

A light-hearted story about Rabbi Babad who, on
his way to the Ritual Baths
behind the Yeshiva would refrain from passing near the statue of the Madonna.
Before he would reach the statue, he would cross to the other side of the
street, (that was near the Gilson home), and he would cross back when he got up
to the Yeshiva (the baker Shenker lived there as did the Lehrer family), and
enter the Ritual Bath. The policeman Margalis lived nearby, and he surely
wondered at the rabbi's strange practice of crossing back and forth from one
side of the street to the other. One day, while on his beat, the policeman saw
the rabbi cross the street and he waited to see if he would cross back again.
When this, indeed, happened, he approached the rabbi, saluted respectfully, and
called out: "Honorable Rabbi!". The members of the rabbi's entourage
surrounded him immediately, and the policeman continued, "Why does my lord
cross the street at the same spot every day and cross back just near the
baker's house?" The rabbi answered without hesitation, "Do you see,
Mr. Margolis, that there stands the statue of the Madonna, and its shadow is
cast next to it? Why should I defile its holiness by stepping on its shadow?
In order to avoid walking on Mary, I cross to the other side." Margolis
straightened up, saluted and went on his way. Apparently, he was satisfied with
the wise rabbi's answer. Some say that from that day forward, he himself, as
well as the mayor, at his suggestion, crossed the street so as not to walk on
Mary's shadow.

The town of Podwolocyska and Grandfather Yaacov
Tirhaus are interchangeable.
To describe Podwolocyska without mentioning the blessed influence which his
personality and deeds had upon the town would be like painting an incomplete
picture.
He was engaged in various activities in the town,
including choosing the
town's rabbis. He stood at the head of the Hosiatin Hassidic community, which
was the largest community in Podwolocyska. But the bulk of his influence was
indirect, in a way that is difficult to describe. It was his personality which
radiated and illuminated everything around him, and inspired respect in the
eyes of all who looked upon him.
The story of his life and the long list of his
blessed deeds which were famous
in all of Galicia, and even beyond, have already been recounted in the
introduction of the important book "The Footsteps of Yaacov" about
the "Shas", which I had the good fortune to publish in 1978.
Anyone perusing the pages of the book will be
impressed by his greatness as a
Torah scholar, as well as his humility on the one hand and assertiveness on the
other. The reader will wonder as to how a man who was as wealthy as he was,
with a trading empire which spread all over the world, could, at the same time,
be so immersed in the true trade of Israel, meaning Torah scholarship.
I know that I am not strong enough to describe
the greatness of Grandfather.
I will just outline his biography and mention some of his deeds which relate to
the town itself.

Grandfather was born to his father, the great
rabbi, Naftali Hertz, the rabbi
of Volocysk, which lay on the other side of the Russian border, to a line of
great rabbis. As was the custom in those days, before large Yeshivas were
established, he was taught by his father, and was well versed in the Torah.
When he was nineteen, he married Grandmother Hava, who was the daughter of a
respectable family in the city of Lekovich. She, herself, was well-known as a
woman involved in various acts of charity and deeds of kindness.. After his
marriage, Grandfather left his town in Russia and moved to Podwolocyska. Here
he began to trade in seeds, and within a short time he was doing well and was
known as a successful and honest merchant. As time passed, he established a
giant firm with branches not only all over Europe, but in the United States and
Canada as well. The chairman of the Hamburg Office of Commerce once said:
"The Tirhaus Company influences the entire seed market in Europe."
Also in his personal life he remained loyal to
the traditions of his
forefathers and adhered to the teachings of the Torah when conducting his
business. It was his custom to stop work for thirty one hours, as is written
in the books of the Kabala, from eleven-thirty on Fridays to after midnight on
Saturday night. He imposed this custom on all the trading offices, even if the
agent was Christian. The agent had to promise not to trade our merchandise
during the Sabbath and Jewish festivals. There was one agent who did not keep
his promise, and he was fired.
There was one event which effected even the
non-Jews of the area and this is
how the story is told: Once Grandfather purchased the fields of a certain
respectable Baroness, which were adjacent to his estate in Sechovka. However,
before the Baroness officially transferred ownership of the fields to
Grandfather, great inflation set in. The Baroness changed her mind, even
though she had already been paid. In court, the Baroness testified that she had
not yet received any money for the field and due to the inflation she was no
longer interested in going ahead with the deal. Grandfather was called to give
testimony, under oath, that he had paid the money and would therefore win the
case. But to everyone's surprise, Grandfather refused to take the oath,
stating that he never took any oaths, and even though he was telling the truth
he would not change his custom, even if it meant losing money. Since the
Baroness and her accountant testified under oath that the money had not been
paid, Grandfather lost the case.
Years passed. One day a priest came to
Grandfather's office and notified him
as follows: The Baroness' accountant confessed to him before his death that he
testified falsely under oath in exchange for a large payment which the Baroness
had promised him. He also gave his permission for his sin to be publicized, so
that he would be absolved. A new trial was held, and the priest testified as to
the accountant's final confession, and Grandfather got the fields and the
Baroness had to pay a large fine. The judges could not hide their amazement at
Grandfather, who was willing to lose so much money and not change his habit.
The district court awarded him a document stating that his testimony would be
accepted by the court even if it is not made under oath. There is no need to
add that through his actions, Grandfather sanctified the Lord's name before
all. He soon became, thanks to his personality and numerous public
undertakings, the leader of the community. He carried the burden of leadership
responsibly and tried either quietly or aggressively to maintain the Jewish
traditions. When he grew old and had difficulty walking, he founded a
synagogue which he maintained financially. One of the worshippers told me of
an exchange between Grandfather and him: "I was an assimilated Jew who did
not even keep the Sabbath. In one year I lost all my fortune and contracted a
fatal disease. Your grandfather came to visit me and he told me 'Decide to
keep one Sabbath faithfully and you will see that you will get better.' I said
to him:' Reb Yankele, even if I get better, how will I live?' He answered me
,'I will loan you a fair amount of money for an unlimited time, until you
succeed in your business.' And that is what came to pass, I recovered from my
illness and regained my former stature. I repaid my debt, and from then on I
keep the Torah and the commandments and I worship in this synagogue."
After World War I, when the Russian border was
closed and many of the town
residents lost their sources of income, Grandfather, along with my father who
was by then his business partner, founded a loan fund which made interest-free
loans to the needy. Dozens of families made use of this fund. Grandmother,
too, managed her own loan fund and when she heard of someone who could not
repay their debt to Grandfather, she would make him a loan from her fund. If
he could then not repay her, he would again borrow from Grandfather, and that
is how it went, back and forth. When grandmother died (8 Adar 5692 (1932)),
Grandfather and Father decided to transfer the money from her fund to theirs,
and the loan registry, which contained loans worth a lot of money, was buried
along with her. In this manner, they canceled the debts that were owed to
Grandmother.
My friend Yoseph Luckman told me: Once
Grandfather called him and asked that
he distribute a special shaving cream to those who used a razor blade to shave,
which he asked my father to buy for him in Vienna. He paid for it, of course.
After a while, after they got used to shaving with the cream, he called him
back and asked him to convince them to pay a symbolic price for the cream, in
order to prove that they were willing to spend money in order to keep the
commandment regarding shaving in the Torah. When they agreed to do this, he
said "Now my joy is complete."
Grandfather had five sons and two daughters:
Alter, Edzie, Menahem-Nahum (my
father), Hanna, Nehama, Elyakim-Getzel, and Yitzhak. Five of them died during
his lifetime before World War II. My father, who was living in Vienna, moved
to Tarnopol before the war. When the Germans came into the city, he was
arrested, along with about one hundred other notable Jews. His brother
Elyakim-Getzel joined him for their final journey and they were killed on 11
Tamuz 5701.
Grandfather fled to Skalat when the war broke
out. That is where the cursed
oppressors found him, and put him on the altar along with masses of other Jews
who were slaughtered by the Nazis. He was close to ninety years old. His
Yahrzeit was set for 15 Sivan, which is also the anniversary of the death of my
mother Malka-Huddel, the daughter of Rabbi Yitzhak Sheinfeld, the head of the
rabbinical court in the town of Brody. My sister Rivka-Mindel and her husband
Yishayahu Milgrom and their two children, as well as my oldest brother
Naftali-Hertz were also killed . May the Lord avenge their blood and may He
turn His vengeance on His oppressor and the land upon which he stands.

David Tirhaus
Grandson of Rabbi Yaacov
and son of Menahem-Mendel May their memory be blessed.

by Zunyu

It is a great honor for me to write some details
about Dr. Rosensweig and his
family. The Rosensweig family came to Podwolocyska during the 1920's and
immediately captured the hearts of its citizens.
I will try to outline some aspects of his
personality but this will not be
easy, considering the broad scope of his activities.
Dr. Rosensweig was an avid Zionist, active in the
"General
Zionists". During his appearances in the "Great Bet Midrash"
the place could hardly contain all the people eager to hear his words. His
ample library, which contained both classical and scientific literature in
various languages, as well as holy books, was open to all.
As a public activist he stood at the head of a
number of organizations,
including the Jewish National Fund, the Jewish Agency, and "Mutual
Aid". He was a member of the town council, and later served as both
deputy mayor and mayor.
His primary occupation was that of physician.
There were other doctors in the
town, like Dr. Friedman and Dr. Perchip, but he was different. He cared not
only for the body, but for the soul as well. He treated each person with
respect. He responded to any call for help, regardless of the weather or the
hour of the night, on Sabbaths and Jewish festivals, like a soldier on health
patrol. He did not ask for money, he always considered the patient's financial
situation, often giving the patient money or free medicine.
He ran a small clinic with a nurse, in his home.
Special patients were treated
there.
His noble wife, Helena, was also a physician, and
always at his side. She
worked as a physician for the Railway Workers Fund. Her charitable activities
included observing the Torah commandment to donate money anonymously. She
maintained this custom for many years. If someone from the town would move to
Eretz Israel, it was incumbent upon him to stop at their house to say good-bye.
At that time he would receive a financial gift from Dr. Helena.
They had one son, the apple of their eye, Ulik.
When World War II broke out,
he was drafted into the Red Army and sent deep into the Soviet Union. His
parents followed him, but were unable to contact him due to the war. Later on,
they found out that their son had fallen during the battle for Stalingrad.
Their crowning glory was gone. Due to the fact that they had followed their
son into the Soviet Union, they themselves were spared from the Nazi
destruction which befell Podwolocyska. The twist of fate is that because of
their son who was killed, they were saved. But their spirit was broken.
At the end of the war, the Rosensweigs moved to
Israel and settled in Haifa.
Dr. Rosensweig worked as the head of a department in the "Kupat
Holim" and as a radiologist. His wife worked as a family physician in one
of the branches of the "Kupat Holim".
During our many encounters with them we could
still feel that their grief over
the loss of their son permeated the atmosphere. Since his death, life had no
meaning or purpose for them. They died of old age, still uttering the name of
their beloved son, Ulik.

May their memories be blessed

A Few Words About Toivke Barrer, Later Yona Sla'i

At a young age, she fulfilled her dream and moved
to Eretz Israel. The move
was relatively easy, since she already spoke fluent Hebrew and was well-versed
in what was happening in Eretz Israel. Also her natural attributes of being
helpful and a love of people, made it easier for her to fit into Eretz-Israeli
society.
Even though she was far from the town of her
birth, Podwolocyska, she never
forgot it. During those years, the 1930's, when it was especially difficult
for people to become integrated into society in Eretz Israel, the people from
Podwolocyska knew, they could count on Yona for help in finding work, a few
night's lodging, maybe some money and encouragement. Yona did this
wholeheartedly, feeling that she was fulfilling her destiny.
After the state of Israel was established she
became active in the
Podwolocyska Society.
She passed away on 3 Sivan 5746 (June 10, 1986).
Her wonderful personality
will remain etched in our memories.

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc.
and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of fulfilling our
mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and
destroyed Jewish communities. This material may not be copied,
sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be
reserved by the copyright holder.

JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification. JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.